Back to the Underworld
by Snowy Stoat
Summary: Sequel to 'The Underworld'. . The great Continental Drift has changed the Underworld. Buck finds out he doesn't like this new world as much as he used to. Rudy is nowhere to be found, nobody wants to go on an adventure... and what happened to Buck's knife? But then, two children enter the world of the Dinosaurs...
1. Prologue

**...**

**Hello everybody. Well, here is the sequel to my**

**previous Ice Age fanfiction called 'The Underworld'.**

**If you haven't read 'The Underworld', I suggest you**

**read that one first, because otherwise you will **

**probably not understand this story completely.**

**I hope you will enjoy this fanfic.**

**Snowy Stoat.**

**.**

**...**

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Prologue.**

…

_There was no sound in the air, except for the soft sound of the waves on the sand. A lonely seagull spread his wings and flew away. Away, to a place less gloomy than this. _

_Something was lying on the sand._

_The seagull spotted it. He screeched, turned around and landed on that thing, whatever it was. It was furry and black with a white figure on it. _

_The seagull poked in it to see if it was eatable. _

_Suddenly, the thing screamed in pain as the seagull's beak poked through his skin._

_The seagull screeched, and flew away. He didn't want to eat something that was screaming like that._

_The thing on the sand moved. He slowly reached out his paw._

_It was a badger. A filthy, tired badger. Something had happened to him. He was wounded, and almost couldn't move. But he had to stay alive. He had to._

_He reached out his other paw. He had something in it. Something that shone in the red light of the setting sun._

_It was a knife. A big knife made of ivory. _

_The badger looked at it. This knife didn't belong to him. He found it. He found it near a deep cave. He never looked what was in the cave. Maybe humans, because this knife could have been made by humans. He wasn't sure._

_Whoever the knife belonged to, the badger didn't care. He had the knife now. And it was a good one. _

_He finally had enough strength to stand up. _

_He looked around and saw that he was on an island. He had seen it before, when the ship he used to serve on sailed in these waters. _

_The badger walked to the small group of trees that was on the middle of the small island. Walking was slow and painful for him, but he managed to stay on his feet._

_Too late, he realized the ground under his feet was weak and thin, with under it completely nothing. No rocks, just emptiness._

_He fell._


	2. Chapter 1 - Family

**Back to the Underworld**

**Chapter 1 – family.**

…

_Tree months later._

"Danny! Come back to the den, it's dinner time!"

The little weasel sighed and said goodbye to his friends. He ran towards his mother who was standing next to the entrance of the family's den.

After so many years, Diana still hadn't changed very much. She never lost that innocent look in her big, brown eyes.

It had been seven years since the long adventure that Diana and her family had in the Underworld, the world where the dinosaurs lived.

Life went on as if nothing happened.

Elco had quickly forgotten about the whole Underworld, or at least he pretended as if he had forgotten about it. He now lived almost at the other end of the forest with his family. His feelings for Diana were gone. He was now married to a young female weasel with a quite light fur, who could best be described with the word 'vainglorious'.

Diana actually barely saw Elco. And to be honest, she didn't care very much.

Diana herself was now married to Vincent, a male weasel who was really the last one everyone expected Diana to fall in love with. After all, her first crush had been the strong, adventurous yet crazy weasel Buck the Dinohunter. Vicnent was quite a different type. He was small, skinny and nervous. Though he was quite intelligent, he liked to hide behind other weasel's backs. He hated fights, and he was terrified to leave the den at night. He was always afraid that something would attack him. Other than that, he was the friendliest weasel Diana had ever met. And, much to other weasel's surprise, he was a great father.

Vincent and Diana had four children, all born on the same day like most weasel children are. It were exactly two boys and two girls. The girls were named Minny and Lara, and the boys Danny and Coco.

Danny was obviously the loudest and the biggest of the four. He was also the oldest, and he always admired Diana's stories about the Underworld. He even 'practiced' hunting dinosaurs, even though Diana didn't think she would ever take her children to the Underworld. She never even thought she would go back herself.

The funny thing about Lara and Coco was that they looked like twins, even though Lara was a girl and Coco a boy. They had the same type of fur, strangely light, probably because Vincen'ts mother's fur was very light. They both had the same eye color, their mother's color. They were usually together.

Minny was the smallest and the most quiet of the four. She wasn't around others as much as her brothers and sister. She lived in her own little fantasy world. She had the grey eye color of her father, only her eyes were even lighter.

Diana didn't really think about the Underworld that much anymore. She was too busy with her own family.

But still she had never forgotten about Buck. She loved Vincent now, but she sill cared about Buck, too. Maybe not the same as she used to, but even though she hadn't seen Buck in seven years, she still saw him as a very good friend.

If she had the time to think about Buck, she always wondered what he was doing at that moment. Maybe he was looking for food, or hunting Rudy. Or maybe he was paying Momma Dinosaur a visit, or maybe he was stealing eggs together with Compso, trying to not get in trouble for a chance.

And would Buck still remember her? Did he still think about her sometimes?

Vincent knew the look on Diana's face whenever she was thinking about the Underworld. And even though he knew deep inside that he had nothing to worry about, he still felt a little bit jealous. He knew that Diana had been very impressed by that weasel called Buck. And she still was.

Vincent himself was not brave and strong like Buck was. That was what worried him sometimes. After all, Diana was easily impressed. But Vincent wasn't impressing at all. He knew his wife loved him for who he was, she had told him that. But sometimes he was worried if that was enough for Diana. After all, there were plenty of other male weasels who, even now that she was married, still had their eyes on Diana. Vincent sometimes feared losing her.

"How was it today, Danny?" Diana asked as she and her family were sitting around the stone that served as a table in their house. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes, mom," Danny said. "we're building our own castle out of snow."

Danny was absolutely one of the most popular children in the valley. He had lots of friends, and they were always doing 'cool' stuff together. A few weeks ago, they were trying to build a boat so that they could play pirates. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that well. But other projects that the kids made up worked out fine.

"The snow queen that makes the winter lives in a castle of snow and ice, too." Minny said with her light, dreamingly sounding voice.

"We're not building a castle for your stupid fairies." Danny replied.

"Danny!" Vincent said sternly at his son.

"Snow Queen," Minny corrected her brother softly.

Diana cleared her throat. "So, did you ask Buckley if he wanted to help?" she asked Danny. "I'm sure he'll love to play with you and your friends."

"Oh, no, mom," Danny said. "not cousin Buckley. He's such a loser."

Diana sighed.

She had always been a little disappointed at her son's dislike for 'cousin Buckley'. She herself had always been fond of the little boy. He was cheerful and friendly, even though he wasn't as 'cool' as Danny was.

Nobody had ever actually asked Diana's sister Liza about her only son, where he came from and why she gave him the name 'Buckley'. Because it was obviously inspired by the name 'Buck'.

Diana had wondered if Buck might have been Buckley's father, but she knew Liza would have told her that. And also, Diana could find nothing of Buck in little Buckley.

Buckley looked actually quite a lot like his mother. He had the same grey-green eyes, and the same dark tan-colored fur, maybe a little bit darker. He also had the same kind of freckles on his cheeks as his mother had.

It wasn't that Buckley was uglier or less intelligent than the other kids. He was maybe a little chubby, which he obviously had from his mother, too. But that couldn't be the reason the other kids usually ignored him. They simply couldn't accept him.

Minny was the only one who seemed to be wanting to spend time with her cousin Buckley.

But if Minny was locked up in her world of imagination again, Buckley usually visited his grandparents. He loved hearing stories from his grandfather Dorian. Especially about how the old weasel lost his leg, although Dorian did make it a little less scary for Buckley's sake. The full original story was way too bloody for such a small child.

After dinner, Minny silently left the den and went to the stream, where she met Buckley.

"Hey, Minny," the chubby little boy said when he saw his cousin.

Minny never said a simple 'hi' back to anyone. She usually just looked at them with her big, light grey eyes.

Buckley was used to this behavior. It was her way of saying 'hello'.

Buckley sat down on a stone next to the stream. "Can you tell me about the Snow Queen again?" He asked.

He was about the only one who truly appreciated Minny's stories about magical creatures, and he actually really liked them.

But today, Minny slowly shook her head. "No," she said. "The Snow Queen is resting, we cannot disturb her."

Buckley understood: it was spring now.

He looked at Minny for a while, and noticed something in the way she was looking. There were very little animals who could read anything in those big, bright eyes. But Buckley, who spent more time with her than anyone else, could understand her expressions.

"Are you alright, Minny?" he asked.

Minny slowly nodded. She smiled, something that she didn't so very often.

"Something is going to happen," she said. "very soon."

"What do you mean?" Buckley asked.

Minny slowly shook her head. "I'm not sure," she said. "but I can feel that something is coming our way."


	3. Chapter 2 - The new Underworld

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Chapter 2 – the new Underworld.**

…

"Ugh!"

One moment Compso was calmly asleep, all curled up in his small nest, the next time something was jumping on his side, squeezing all the air out of the small dinosaur's lungs in a second. He gasped with a hoarse sound.

"Buck!" Compso said. "Stop it!"

Laughing, Buck jumped on the ground again with both his feet.

"That woke you up, didn't it?" He said.

Compso stood up and brushed some dirt off his skin.

"I really thought that all the painful things in the world finally all happened to me," Compso said. "and then a weasel thinks I'm a trampoline."

Buck laughed as he dangled upside down from a branch. "Sorehead," he said.

"I'm not a sorehead," Compso said. "I just don't like to be woken up so early. What's the point?"

Buck now let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm bored, Compso," he said. "Bored to death. I want something to happen. Something dangerous."

"I actually like it this way," Compso said. "no adventures for a while. Finally time for me to rest." He yawned.

Buck jumped on the ground again.

"Well I don't like it," he said. "I'm so bored, I think I'm going to kill myself if nothing happens soon."

Compso yawned again. He was still very sleepy. "Why don't you go bully Rudy?" he asked. "I'm sure that will cheer you up."

"That stupid overgrown lizard has been asleep for weeks, it seems," Buck said. "I haven't seen or heard from him in a long time. There's nothing to do in the Underworld anymore, Compso."

"Strange," Compso said. He was already curling up in his nest again to sleep a little longer. "you wouldn't say that, after that earthquake changed everything. Why don't you just go and explore the new areas?"

"I want to do that," Buck said. "But I'm not going alone. I need someone who I can talk to while I travel."

"Great, then go find someone." Compso said, and he closed his eyes again.

Buck rolled his only eye. He started jumping on Compso's side again.

"Wake up, you stupid lizard," he said.

Compso opened his eyes again. "What?!" he said.

"Why don't you just go with me, old buddy?" Buck asked. "Two heads is better than one, if you know what I mean, right?"

Compso yawned again. "I'm sorry, I really don't feel like going on an adventure again." He said. "I've been crushed by other dinosaur's paws too often the last times. I'm tired."

And he closed his eyes again.

"Fine," Buck said. "Who needs that guy. You can come with me on an adventure, right?" He looked at a stone next to him. There was a short silence, and then Buck growled.

"You're no fun either." He told the stone.

Slightly annoyed, he walked away.

At moments like this, Buck really missed Sheldon. That little boy seemed to be the only one who really understood him.

Buck had gotten a little more used to company again. And to be honest, he didn't like to be alone too much. It made him hear voices in his head. And not the usual funny ones, but scary ones. Last time he had been alone for more than two days, he suddenly had a hallucination that his treehouse was filled with bugs that just wouldn't go away, no matter what he tried.

It was clear that his insanity was getting worse. And he didn't like that one bit. First his craziness was just funny, and he could live with it just fine. But now he started to hear and see scary things.

Buck sat down on a rock and looked at the Underworld.

It had changed since that great earthquake, a few months ago. The whole world had been shaking. Many things in the Underworld were gone.

The Chasm of Death collapsed completely. The last Plates of Woe had fallen down, and just left a gorge that somehow made Buck feel sad whenever he saw it.

The Eastern Desert had flooded. It was now a small sea, but the water was extraordinary salt. The Lava Falls weren't only falls anymore. There was an entire river of lava. Momma Dinosaur was quite lucky that her house wasn't destroyed. Though it was quite a mess at first.

Buck hadn't seen the Spinosaurs in a long time. He had heard a message that their home by the river was somehow saved. Only part of their cave, the one where Rudy used to live in, was collapsed. But the place was still livable.

Buck stood up. Maybe he should pay a visit to Greyclaw and Longclaw. At least then he had someone to talk to.

He began walking towards the river. He said 'hi' to a dead tree as he walked by it. He always talked to inanimate objects, and he would probably never stop doing that.

…

"Mom! There's Sheldon!" Dina said.

"I can see that, dear, thank you," Seetha said. She was studying her long, black nails while her son entered the den where they still lived together as a family.

"Where were you, Sheldon?" Seetha asked.

Sheldon shrugged. "In the forest, somewhere," he said.

"The whole night?" Seetha asked.

Sheldon sighed. "So what?" he said. "is that also against your 'rules', mom?"

Seetha sighed. "No, Sheldon," She said. "all I'm asking is that you tell me whenever you say away for the night. You know how much I worry about you."

Sheldon sighed again. "Okay, mom," he said, and he walked off to his own little room in the den.

"Ugh," Seetha said. "teenagers."

All three of her children were teenagers now. And though Dina and Dora were still innocent little angels, or at least, they acted that way, Sheldon had become a little distant from his family.

He had been such a cheerful little boy when he was younger. What went wrong? Or was it just a normal phase that teenage boys went through? Seetha didn't know. She knew about teenage girls, because she had been one herself. But she didn't know that much about teenage boys, to be honest. She only knew what she learned from her boyfriends when she was a teenager herself. And that wasn't very much.

Seetha was once again reminded that Sheldon needed a father-figure. And there was only one person who Sheldon had ever been willing to see as a father-figure, and that was that strange weasel called Buck.

Seetha had never met Buck personally. She only knew him from Sheldon's stories, and personally she thought he must be a real weirdo. But Sheldon liked him, and Seetha had decided not to judge that Buck before she had actually met him.

Sheldon hadn't seen Buck in seven years, Seetha thought. Maybe it was time she let her son visit this Buck person again. After all, Sheldon had shown to be capable to handle himself in the Underworld when he was a kid. Seetha was sure he could also manage himself when he was a teenager. Maybe even better than when he was just a little boy.

Seetha sighed and shook her head. She had to think about this for a while.

She would decide later what was best.


	4. Chapter 3 - Buck's knife

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Chapter 3 – Buck's knife.**

…

"Hey, there's the Dinohunter," Longclaw said. "It's been a while."

Greyclaw, the leader of the Spinosaurs since the death of the old Blueclaw, looked in the direction Longclaw was pointing at.

It seemed like the Dinohunter had indeed decided to pay a visit. He walked towards the two spinosaurs with his hands behind his back.

"Greetings, Dinohunter," Greyclaw said. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing, really," Buck said. "I came here by myself."

It took Greyclaw a while before he understood that the Dinohunter was taking his words too literally.

"No, I mean why are you here?" Greyclaw said.

In the past seven years, Buck had managed to make most of the Spinosaurs understand the mammal language, so Compso didn't have to be around to translate the whole time. Speaking was a different matter. None of the Spinosaurs could actually speak the mammal language. But they understood it, and Buck could understand the Dinosaur language, so there were no complications.

"I'm bored," Buck said with a sigh. "I need someone to talk to, or I'll go insane."

Longclaw coughed obviously on purpose.

Buck gave her a grumpy look. "Well, more insane than usually, anyway," he said.

Greyclaw looked at his claws. Actually he didn't have time to talk to the Dinohunter. He needed to help the others with catching fish. Fish was the most important food for the Spinosaurs. But Greyclaw didn't want to send Buck away. He seemed a bit troubled, and the dinosaur could understand that he wanted company. Buck didn't know it, but there were more animals who knew about his strange hallucinations lately.

"Um…" Greyclaw said as he thought. Then he got an idea. "How about you show Swiftclaw around?" He asked the Dinohunter. "After all he's supposed to become leader of the group when he's older, and it would be good for him if you could teach him some things."

Buck raised an eyebrow. He liked children, but somehow he never really showed interest in getting to know Greyclaw and Longclaw's children. His last experience with dinosaur kids was… well, quite unfortunate. A few triceratops children appearantly wanted to ride on his back. All three at the same time.

When he thought back of it, he still could feel the pain in his back.

On the other hand, he had heard that Greyclaw's oldest son Swiftclaw was a quite intelligent and serious kid. Maybe he wouldn't be such bad company after all.

Buck shrugged. "Okay, then." He said.

Greyclaw turned around and called for his son.

Swiftclaw appeared in a few seconds. He was quite fast, that was probably where his name came from. He looked like his father, with the same grey colors. But a few of his claws were red, like his mother's. Only they weren't that long.

"The Dinohunter is going to show you the area," Greyclaw said to his son.

"But I have already seen the area." Swiftclaw said. "Is there any use in exploring something that I already know." The little dinosaur talked in dinosaur language, but Buck knew that he could understand the mammal language, too. His parents taught him.

Buck rolled his eye. Man, that kid really did his best to sound smart.

"I can show you the area beyond the area that you know, kid," Buck said.

Swiftclaw tilted his head. "And are you going to teach me how you survive?" he asked.

"If you want to hear about it," Buck said, shrugging. "I've got lots of stories that I can tell you."

"Can you tell me about Whiteclaw?" Swiftclaw asked.

Buck held up his hand. "All in good time, lad," he said. "first let's get going. The we'll see if I can tell any stories."

Swiftclaw stood up. "Okay," he said.

"Be back before sunset," Longclaw said to her son.

"No worries, madam," Buck said. "I'll bring him back in time."

Buck left the riverbank, and Swiftclaw followed him.

"Where are we going?" the young Spinosaurus asked.

"You'll see," Buck said. Actually, he didn't know yet where he would take the little dinosaur.

"Listen up, kid," Buck said after a while. "As long as you're here with me, you're gonna have to follow my rules. Rule number one: always listen to Buck. Rule number two: always stay on the trail. Well, unless I tell you not to do so. Rule number three: no useless questions, no whining about aching feet and no hallucinating."

"I heard you are the one who is hallucinating," Swiftclaw said.

"Rule number three, kid," Buck said. "No annoying questions."

"That wasn't a question," Swiftclaw said.

Buck sighed in frustrations.

Swiftclaw stopped and sat down on the ground. "I know you don't like me, Dinohunter," he said. "but maybe we could at least try to get along?"

Buck hated it when someone was playing the wise guy like that.

"Okay, if you have any more useless questions, will you ask them now?" Buck asked. "Then you won't need to ask them on the way anymore."

Swiftclaw thought for a while. The he asked: "My father told me you had a knife made of Whiteclaw's tooth. Where is it?"

Ouch. That was a sting in the wrong place.

Buck stood still and thought. What happened to his knife?

…

_The entire world was shaking. Buck lost his balance and fell on the ground. _

"_What's happening?" He said._

_Rudy now lost his balance too. Buck had to jump on his feet and run for his life to avoid being crushed by the dinosaur's huge body._

"_Watch it, you big lizard!" Buck said._

_Trees around him fell like they were little twigs. Rocks fell from the ceiling of the Underworld. One hit Rudy in the head, and he lost consciousness. Buck tried to wake him up by poking him with his knife. "Wake up!" he said. "You'll be bloody crushed here!" _

_Rudy didn't move, while rocks continued falling on him._

"_Oh, suit yourself," Buck said. He wanted to run away, but hesitated. What if Rudy got killed by the rocks? _

_He turned around. And ran back to his old enemy. "Come on, wake up!" the one-eyed weasel said. He opened one of Rudy's huge eyes to see if that helped. But it immediately closed again._

_Then Buck's eye fell on a small stream that disappeared in the chasm. He took a big leaf from a plant, that was somewhat shaped like a bowl. He ran to the stream with his knife in his mouth. _

_Then something unexpected happened. Both sides of the chasm were close together here. And suddenly, one side moved and began to rise above the other side. It happened so fast that the moving side hit Buck's chin. His knife fell out of his mouth, and before he could grab it the rock wall had already moved too high. It almost liked like it was growing._

_Buck had no time for drama now. He filled the leaf with water before the stream slowly disappeared. He ran back to Rudy and splashed the water into his face._

_That woke him up. The huge dinosaur immediately understood that there was danger that he couldn't fight. He stood up and ran away._

_Buck was able to grab hold of his long tail, and so was able to escape from the falling rocks too._

…

"Dinohunter?" Swiftclaw asked.

Buck cleared his throat, shaking the memory out of his head.

"Rule number four," he said. "don't ask about my knife."

...

..

**Author's note.**

**I'm usually not asking for too many things. I'm**

**glad enough that people even read this story.**

**But now I'm still going to ask if people who read**

**this story would also like to review it. :)**

**You don't have to, but I would really appreciate**

**it, to be honest.**

**Snowy Stoat.**


	5. Chapter 4 - By accident

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Chapter 4 – By accident**

…

"Hey, Minny! Wait up!"

Buckley climbed up the hill, panting heavily. He couldn't run as fast as Minny could, mainly because of his weight.

Minny was standing on top of the hill, staring into the nothingness.

Buckley stood still next to her and looked around. They were further away from home than they had been their entire life. The little weasel had to admit: he felt a bit scared. But he could see that Minny wasn't worrying about anything. So he tried to not worry either.

After all, he knew that Minny had a sixth sense of some sort. It wasn't like she had some special power, but it was more like she could feel certain things much better then others did.

Not that many people in this crazy world cared about Minny's sixth sense. Buckley did, but next to him it seemed like nobody cared. Not even her own mother, Diana.

Most animals just thought that Minny was a bit loony. Well, she actually looked loony with those too light grey eyes of her, and the way she could stare at others with a blank gaze, her arms next to her body. Almost like a ghost.

"So, what are we going to do?" Buckley asked his cousin.

Minny looked around. Then she shrugged, and started walking to the other side of the hill.

They weren't allowed to go this far. Buckley knew that. But one time wouldn't hurt, would it? After all, nobody had to find out.

Buckley followed Minny down the hill. The last few trees of the forest were on the other side. Other than that, there were hills of ice and snow, and more in the distance Buckley could see more trees and high rocks.

"Why wouldn't out parents want us to go here?" Buckley asked.

Minny just shrugged.

"I mean…" Buckley continued. "what's so special about this place? There's nothing dangerous here."

"Then why are you scared?" Minny asked.

Buckley was about to protest, but thought better of it. Because she was right: he was a bit scared. He wasn't sure though if he was scared of this place, or his mother's reaction of she would find out he had been here.

Suddenly, there was a voice behind them.

"Ha, gotcha!"

Minny and Buckley turned around, and saw Danny and a few of his friends standing on the hill.

"Busted!" one of Danny's friends said.

Buckley took a step forward. "What are you talking about?" he said, trying to sound as if he wasn't afraid to be bullied.

"You're so gonna get in trouble," Danny said. "both of you."

"Oh, you're gonna tell your mommy about this?" Buckley replied, in an attempt to sound cool.

"Yeah," Danny said. "why not? I'm her favorite son, after all."

"You can't say that!" Buckley shouted.

"Why not?" Danny said. "Just because you are an only child with no daddy?"

Buckley was about to shout something back at Danny, but Minny put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't's worry, Buckley," she said. "the spring fairy will get them."

Buckley raised an eyebrow. "What?" He said. Sometimes, Minny's fantasy creatures were confusing even for him.

But at that moment, a pile of half melted snow fell from a tree branch right on top of Danny and his friends.

Buckley took one look at them, and started laughing. Even Minny smiled a little.

But Danny didn't give up so easily. He grabbed some snow, made it into a ball and threw it at Buckley. It hit the little weasel in his stomach. He was dazed for a few seconds, and then threw a snowball back.

They all started throwing snowballs at each other. And it didn't last long until they all laughed. This was actually quite fun. And for a moment, they forgot their rivalry.

And then it went wrong.

Minny and Buckley both took a step back at the same moment, completely by accident. Buckley was the first one to notice the sound of breaking ice under his paws.

Everyone stopped moving. Buckley and Minny looked at each other, and realized there was something dangerous about this place after all.

The next thing they knew, they were falling down. The thin ice they had been standing on had broken, and they were falling down a deep, black hole.

…

Sheldon left very early that morning. He had decided to sneak out again, like he had done when he was a little boy. He didn't think it was necessary to tell him mother where he was going. She would know, and if he had told her before he left, she would probably make a whole drama out of it. He wasn't in the right mood for that.

His decision was clear. He was going to the Underworld. Maybe not forever, because if he would do that he would certainly say goodbye to his mother and his sisters first. But he just had to see the Underworld again. And Buck, of course.

Sheldon had missed the one eyed weasel. Buck had always been his best friend. Maybe even almost like a father figure. And life had been pretty boring without him.

Sheldon just hoped Buck would still recognize him. He had changed quite a lot over the years. He had grown a lot, and now that he was maturing, he looked even more like Buck. Only he clearly didn't have the underbite, and there was nothing wrong with his eyes. He still had both, and was planning on keeping them.

He did have his right ear pierced. But that was intentionally, even though his mother wasn't exactly glad about that earring.

Sheldon took one more look at his sleeping mother and sisters. Then he silently left the den, and breathed in the cool morning air. It was still mostly dark, but the sun would come up soon.

Sheldon just hoped that the great continental drift hadn't changed the location of the entrance to the world of the dinosaurs. Or worse: blocked it. And in the most terrible case, the entire Underworld could be destroyed. But he couldn't allow himself to think like that.

Everything had to be fine.

…

Buckley frowned. Why was it so hot here? Wasn't this the ice age? The age where it's always cold?

When he moved, he suddenly realized he wasn't lying in the snow, but on moss and leaves. He also noticed that his back and limbs hurt whenever he moved.

Then he remembered how he and Minny had suddenly fallen through thin ice. And… whenever did they land? He couldn't remember.

He opened his eyes, and saw where he and Minny were lying: in a jungle. They were lucky they had fallen on leafs and moss, which had broken their fall. Otherwise, they could've been dead by now.

"Minny?" Buckley asked, as he sat upright slowly, trying to avoid any more pain.

Minny was right next to him, but she didn't answer. She looked up at the trees with her big, light grey eyes.

"Minny?" Buckley said again. "Do... do you think this is that place our parents and grandparents told us about?"

Minny slowly nodded. "The Underworld." she said.

...

**Author's note:**

**I just thought I'd tell you this: I won't be**

**working on this fanfiction as often as I**

**used to work on the others. I'm having**

**a few difficulties with the story.**

**But don't worry: I will not stop **

**writing ****it.**

**Snowy Stoat.**


	6. Chapter 5 - Meeting Buck

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Chapter 5 – Meeting Buck.**

…

Swiftclaw wasn't sure what to say anymore. Sure, there were many things he could ask the Dinohunter. But he noticed that the one eyed weasel was in a bad mood today. All questions just annoyed him. And that question about his knife didn't make his mood any better.

The Dinohunter was now just walking a few feet ahead of Swiftclaw, talking to himself. This made Swiftclaw feel a little out of place.

Eventually, he decided it would be best to just go home.

"Uhm… mr. Dinohunter?" he said.

Buck looked over his shoulder. "Aye?"

"What way do I have to go to get home?" Swiftclaw asked.

"Just turn around and follow the path back, lad," Buck said. "you think it's that hard?"

Swiftclaw decided to just not say anything back. But just when he turned around and wanted to walk back home, he heard a voice that made him stop and look around.

"Buck!"

It didn't last long until Compso the Compsognathus came running out of the bushes. When he saw Buck, he stopped so abruptly that he felt with his nose in the sand and had to sneeze a few times before he could stand up and talk.

"Hey, Compso," Buck said. "I thought you would spend all day snoring n your nest?"

Compso ignored what Buck said. "Buck, I'm glad I found you," he said. "I… believe two children have just fallen into the Underworld."

The grin on Buck's face disappeared immediately. "What?" he said. "where? When?"

"I saw them just a minute ago," Compso said. "they were wandering through what used to be the Jungle of Mysery."

They looked at each other and thought the same thing. Buck was the first to say it: "Carnivorous plants!"

"Hey, where are you going?" Swiftclaw asked as Compso and Buck both started running.

Buck looked over his shoulder while running, and shouted back at Swaftclaw: "Sorry, kid! But some things are more important that wasting your time with an annoying little brat!"

Swiftclaw blinked a few times. 'Brat?' Was that really what the dinohunter thought of him, 'an annoying little brat'?

…

"This place is beautiful!" Minny said while spinning around. They were in a colorful jungle, where all sorts of flowers grew. Most of them were so big that they could be used as a bed. Or even as a house.

Though it was still clear that the continental drift had also done damage here. For many trees were knocked over, and there were some strange, recently created hills in the jungle, and there were rocks everywhere that could have fallen from the 'roof' of this underground world.

Minny and Buckley hadn't seen any other animals yet, except for some insects. Maybe nobody else lived here?

"Hey, Minny," Buckley said, looking around nervously. "Don't you think this place might be dangerous?"

Minny stopped spinning and her face turned serious. "Yes," she said. "I can feel that it's dangerous."

"So… why don't we just leave?" Buckley asked.

Minny shook her head. "We'll only meet more dangers of mother nature," she said. "She'll try to have us killed out there. We have to stay here."

"But we can't stay here forever!" Buckley cried out. "Then we'll never see our parents again!"

Minny put a hand on her cousin's shoulder and looked at him with her light grey eyes. "Don't worry, Buckley," she said. "Someone will come for us."

"How do they know we're here?" Buckley said. "How can they find us? I wanna go home, Minny."

"Someone will come," Minny said. "I can feel it."

Buckley frowned. What if Minny's feelings were wrong? After all, she could predict many things. But not everything.

At that moment, something green and red appeared and stopped right in front of them. The first thing Buckley could see clearly of this creature was a mouth full of sharp teeth. He screamed and wanted to run away. But Minny grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Let me go!" Buckley shouted.

Minny didn't say anything, and she didn't let go of Buckley's arm. She just stared at the creature in front of them.

He looked somewhat like a lizard, but he walked on only two legs. Hit arms were very small, and his tail was long. He looked at the two little weasels with two red eyes that were too close together.

Buckley frowned. Now that he looked at the creature more closely, he didn't think he looked that frightening. But it was still a strange creature. What was he?

The creature turned his head and shouted: "Hey, Buck! Here they are!"

Buckley blinked. So he could talk? But who was he talking to?

That question didn't have to wait long to be answered. Because soon, a new creature came out of the bushes, and Buckley was quite relieve to see that is was a weasel like he and Minny. Though he was definitely not the most normal weasel, for he wore an eyepatch, he had an underbite and a goatee and the look on his face was just… weird.

"Good work, Compso," she weasel said to the green creature. Buckley couldn't help but giggle at the weasel's funny accent. The weasel immediately looked at him.

"So," he said. "What have we got here."

Minny and Buckley both took a step back.

The weasel quickly held up his hands. "Hey, don't worry, kids," he said. "You're just lucky that we found you before the raptors did. Or the carnivorous plants. Speaking of which: there's one behind you right now. Better not step too close."

Minny and Buckley quickly took a step forward again. Then Minny looked at the strange weasel.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I might as well ask who you two are," the weasel said. "After all, this world is my home. It just got redecorated, as you can see."

The green creature named Compso chuckled. "He calls it 'redecorated'," he snickered. "more like 'half destroyed'."

"Shut up!" she weasel snapped.

"I'm Minny," Minny said to the strange weasel. "and this is my cousin Buckley."

The weasel grinned. "Buckley?" he said. "Really? Funny coincidence, mate. We almost have the same name. I'm Buck."

Buckley's mouth fell open. "Wow!" he said. "So you're really Buck the Dinohunter? The one our moms told us so much about?"

Buck blinked. "Your mothers told about me?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah!" Buckley said. "I'm even named after you, sort of."

Buck shook his head. "Sorry, lad," he said. "but I don't know either of you. So I doubt I know those mothers of yours."

"Do you remember Diana and Liza?" Minny suddenly asked.

Buck was silent for a while, probably thinking. "Ah!" he said then. "of course! Now I remember. Diana and Liza were part of that annoying weasel family that came down here together with that sorehead of a friend of them."

He pointed at Buckley. "You look very much like your mother, mate," he said. "I should have guessed you were Liza's son."

Then he turned to Minny. "And you…" he said. "Well, with you it's not as obvious as with Buckley here. But I should guess you are Diana's daughter."

Minny just nodded and looked at Buck with her big, light grey eyes.

Buck suddenly shuddered. "Uhm… " he said. "no offence, lass, but… could you maybe look the other way? That look is kinda creeping me out, if you know what I mean."

A slightly sad expression appeared on Minny's face, but she did turn her gaze away from the one eyed weasel, without saying a word.

Buck looked around. "Okay, kids," he said. "Enough talk. Let's get you to a safer place."

...

**...**

**Author's note:**

**Hi, everyone. Sorry that it's taking me longer**

**than usual to upload the chapters. But I just**

**have a lot of things in my mind in real life and**

**on DeviantArt. **

**I'll write more chapters when I get the chance,**

**but I can't promise anything.**

**Oh, and I would still really love to read what**

**your thoughts are about this fanfiction in your**

**reviews. :) Thank you.**

**Snowy Stoat.**


	7. Chapter 6 - On the way

**Back to the Underworld.**

**Chapter 6 – On the way**

…

The tree where Buck used to live in hadn't survived the continental drift. It was a giant tree, but a very old one, and so it had fallen on the ground during the great earthquake. But Buck was always able to solve problems like this. He had dug a hole under the fallen tree, and made his new home under there. The walls of the old treehouse was now the ceiling of the new home. So to see all the drawings of Buck's adventures that he had made on the walls of his treehouse, they had to look up now.

Buck, Compso and the two little weasels sat down around the new table, which was made of a piece of wood and four small stones.

"So," Buck said. "how did you kids come down here?"

"We fell," Minny simply said.

Buck frowned. "Earthquake, huh?" he said.

Minny shook her head. "The ground disappeared under our feet," she said.

"I think the ice was too thin," Buckley said. "but I don't understand how it all happened exactly. We were having a snowball fight, en suddenly the ice broke and we fell."

"I'm guessing you want to go back home?" Buck asked.

Buckley nodded immediately. "Yes," he said. "I want to go back to my mother."

"It's a shame, you know," Buck said. "nobody ever stays long enough to see how wonderful this world actually is. But I guess you folks from the World of Above think safety goes first."

"We just wanna go home," Buckley said. He had to admit he really admired Buck. Now that he actually knew him even more than he used to do. But he didn't want to stay in this world too long. He wanted to go home as fast as they could.

Minny said nothing.

Buck stood up. "Well, they day is not over yet," he said. "we might as well start traveling."

"Do we need to travel very long?" Buckley asked.

"That depends," Buck said. "since that great earthquake everything has changed here. I hope the old exit is still open. If not, then you kids have a problem."

"I don't wanna stay down here forever!" Buckley cried out.

"Hey. Don't worry, matey. I'll get you back home. Or my name isn't Buck the Dinohunter!" Buck said. "Now let's go before roots grow from our feet and we all turn into trees."

He turned around to see Compso trying to sneak away. He grabbed the small dinosaur's tail and pulled him back.

"Not so fast, mate," he said. "you're coming too."

"Oh, come on, Buck!" Compso begged. "I just want some rest. I'll go on an adventure some other time, okay?"

"Listen, Compso," Buck said. "There are two children here and only one of me. Someone has to help me babysit. I'm not doing this on my own."

"You managed just find with Sheldon," Compso said, folding his small arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but Sheldon was just one kid," Buck said. "plus he looked a lot like me. These children don't."

"I thought you liked kids." Compso said.

Buck rolled his eye. "Sure I do," he said. "but that's not the point."

Compso looked at his best friend. Then he sighed. "Alright then," he said. "I'm coming with you. But you owe me."

"That's a change." Buck said jokingly. Then he turned around and looked at Buckley and Minny.

"Okay, kids," he said. "let me just explain the rules before we go. Rule number one: always listen to Buck. Rule number two: stay on the trail. Rule number three: do not feed the dinosaurs. Well, except for Compso perhaps. Rule number four: there will be pit stops, so use them."

The children nodded quietly.

"Now let's go," Buck said. "the world doesn't wait. And neither do I."

He went outside, with Compso, Buckley and Minny following him immediately.

…

"Minny!" Diana cried out. "Minny, where are you?!"

Liza brought both of her hands to her mouth and shouted: "Buckley!"

There was no answer. Just silence.

Danny looked at his friends. One of them shook his head. "Don't tell them, Danny," he said. "or we'll all be in trouble."

Danny didn't answer, but he looked at his mother again. It was true that he never liked his sister and cousin that much. They weren't 'cool' or popular like he was. Minny looked like a ghost and Buckley was fat and always crying for his mommy. But still, Danny wouldn't want them to be gone forever. He didn't hate them, and he never wished they would be gone.

"Mom," Danny said softly, stepping forward.

Diana turned around. "What is it, sweetie?" she asked.

Danny looked down at his paws. "I know where Minny and Buckley went." He whispered.

Even though her son was whispering, Diana could hear him very well. And she felt her heart jump.

"Really?" she hugged Danny. "Good boy. Where are they."

Danny still looked at the ground. "They… they fell through the earth," he said softly.

Diana frowned. "what?" she said.

"I don't know," Danny replied. "we were having a snowball fight. Soddenly the ice broke, and Buckley and Minny fell down. It really wasn't my fault, mom. They went behind the hill where we're not supposed to come. I didn't do anything, really."

Diana gasped. "The hill…" she whispered. She remembered that hill very well. And she also knew that she had a good reason to not let her children play there. Because that was the place where she had first entered the Underworld. In all those years, thin ice had formed over the chasm where Diana and her family had fallen into years ago.

"Liza!" Diana cried out to her sister, who immediately turned around and walked towards her.

"Buckley and Minny are in the underworld," Diana said.

Liza held both hands over her mouth. "Oh dear…" she said.

The two sisters looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

…

The small tunnel to the Underworld wasn't there anymore. That was quite clear.

Instead, Sheldon now stood in front of a large cave and went on and on down to the world of the dinosaurs. Of course, the good thing about this cave was that he could still enter the Underworld. The bad thing was that some dinosaurs could also come up now. And that wasn't really a good thing at most times.

"When I find Buck, we'll have to talk about this," Sheldon said to himself out loud. "Maybe there's something we can do."

He was looking forward to seeing Buck, so he didn't hesitate any longer. He went down into the cave. It didn't last long until he saw the bright light ond the Underworld at the end of the tunnel. He stepped into the underground tropical world. He first had to cover his eyes before they got used to the bright light.

He gasped at what he saw.

"Wow," he said. "This place is almost destroyed!"

...

...

**Author's note:**

**I'm going to put this story on hold for a while.**

**I have a lot of things on my mind lately, and**

**I just don't really get myself to write this story**

**very often.**

**Also, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed**

**that only two of the people who I know have**

**also read 'the Underworld' are reading this**

**story. But I'm glad at least some people are**

**interested in this story, and I want to thank**

**you who read this story. I really appreciate it. **

**I don't know when I'll be writing on this story**

**again. But it might take at least a few weeks.**

**My apologies.**

**Snowy stoat.**


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